Review: Avowed Is a Fantasy Game About the Benefits of Local Control

The player encounters various governmental figures and debates about the rights of various human and not-so-human creatures

Avowed, the latest role-playing game from Obsidian Entertainment, casts the player as a magical envoy of the Aedyr Empire. You travel to a far-off land to investigate a plague known as the Dream Scourge. Along the way, you encounter various governmental figures—local rulers and representatives of the crown, town councils and mercenary organizations vying for control. There are also debates about the rights of various human and not-so-human creatures, including an enslaved undead caste that has literally sold their souls.

The game lets players make their own decisions about who to support, but the connecting thread is that local, democratic control tends to work better than top-down authority. Avowed may be a fantasy game with a lot of complicated gameplay mechanisms and statistics. But at heart, it's an interactive story about the tradeoffs involved in governance.

Comments

[Randy Sax]

Anyone who wants to see a real review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg5K5HZPPLs&ab_channel=FLEEKAZOID

[VULGAR MADMAN]

That review is more entertaining than most games.

[damikesc]

Avowed is a mid game with an art director who is a raging racist.

But you do you.

[VULGAR MADMAN]

Maybe he’s the right kind of racist?

[Incunabulum]

It's also a not very good game.

And . . . you're like a month late wit this review. Who is it for? Not people who play games.

[VULGAR MADMAN]

I remember when Obsidian was great.

[vanessaa]

While exploring Avowed, I found myself thinking less about combat and more about how the game subtly explores the tension between centralized power and local autonomy. The way it frames governance—especially through dialogue with non-human communities—felt surprisingly grounded. It made me reflect on how nuanced worldbuilding can elevate a fantasy RPG into something more meaningful. During my own game development process, I’ve found that integrating deeper systems like this requires not just creativity but strong tools. I’ve been using https://www.code-maestro.com/ to streamline tasks like organizing scenes and refactoring legacy code. It helps maintain architectural integrity while adapting narrative-driven mechanics. The ability to navigate complex codebases interactively saves a lot of time, especially in projects with evolving logic. Games like Avowed show the value of layered systems, and tools like this make building them far more manageable.

[damikesc]

Better written spam than articles. WTG Reason!

[Its_Not_Inevitable]

Was this ad worth the annual subscription fee?